Swinging guard for clipping apparatus



March 15, 1966 M. J. G. TIPPER SWINGING GUARD FOR CLIPPING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 23, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet l I NVENTOR. Mam 4i) J, 6, Twin March 15, 1966 J, UPPER 3,239,926

SWINGING GUARD FOR CLIPPING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 23, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I N V ENTOR. M4 mwep J. 6. 77 m? Arrozvi/ United States Patent 3,239,926 SWINGING GUARD FOR CLIPPING APPARATUS Maynard .I. G. Tipper, Oakland, Calif., assiguor to Rheem Manufacturing Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of California Filed Sept. 23, 1964, Ser. No. 398,657 11 Claims. (Cl. 29-24357) This application is a continuation-in-part of applications Serial No. 300,366, filed August 6, 1963, now abandoned; Serial No. 355,502, filed March 27, 1964; Serial No. 367,536, filed May 14, 1964; and Serial No. 380,260, filed June 30, 1964.

This invention relates to apparatus for applying a U-shaped staple or clip around an article such as a casing. More particularly the invention is directed to the provision of a guard positioned alongside the clip deforming die and provided with positioning means to permit the operator to position the casing or other article in the proper clipping location and at the same time facilitate removal of the article from the die after the clipping operation has been performed. By the present invention said guard is provided along one edge with a recess in which the article to be sealed is received prior to the clipping operation and provision is made for swinging said one edge outwardly in a direction at right angles to the plane of the die to facilitate removal of the article.

The main object of the present invention is the provision of an improved structure in a clipping apparatus that speeds up the clipping operation without atfecting the structure in any way that would detract from the effectiveness of the seal that is applied to the casing.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following specification and from the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the portion of a typical clipping apparatus that includes the die support plate on which the present invention is mounted.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross section of the structure of FIG. 1 taken in a plan indicated by lines 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view similar to FIG. 2 showing the clip secured around the casing.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the manner in which the casing is removed with the clip thereon by pulling laterally outwardly on the casing.

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of another form of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross section of the structure of FIG. 5 taken in a plane indicated by lines 66 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a side elevation of another form of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a vertical cross section through the track of FIG. 7 indicating in dot-dash lines the guard plate swung outwardly from the die support during removal of the casing.

FIG. 9 is a vertical cross section through another form of the invention.

In detail, and first with reference to FIG. 1, the apparatus disclosed therein is similar to that shown in Serial No. 300,366 and which includes a die support plate generally designated 10 supported at its lower end on a base plate 11 of a supporting standard generally designated 12 and to which the die support 10 is secured by screws 13.

The die support 10 is provided with a vertically extending track 15 along which U-shaped clips are adapted to be urged by a punch indicated at 16 (FIG. 3). The means for feeding the clips to the track 15 and the means for actuating the punch 16 are not shown since these members do not form any part of the present invention.

The die support 10 is provided along one edge with an inwardly extending casing receiving recess 18 which communicates, as seen in FIG. 1, with a downwardly extending throat 19 the central axis of which is coincident with "ice the central axis of the track 15 at the lower end of the latter. Die support 10 is provided with a generally rectangular recess 21 which receives a die 22 therein. Die 22 is secured within said recess 21 and to the die support 10 by means of screws 23. The die 22 is provided with a pair of upwardly opening grooves 25, 26 (FIG. 4) which the clip engages when it is forced against the die 22 by punch 16. The plane of the track 15 is slightly inclined relative to the plane of the die support 10 and the die 22 so that one leg of the clip is received in groove 25 and the other leg in groove 26 and so that as the deformed clip encircles the casing the ends of the legs of the clip are disposed in closely adjoining side by side relationship when the clipping operation is completed.

The throat 19 formed in die support 10 terminates at its lower end on one side of die 22 in a semicircular edge 28 so that when a casing or like article is inserted into mouth 13 and downwardly along throat 19 said casing is supported in a position slightly upwardly from the grooves 25, 26 of die 22 by the curved edge 28 of the slotted portion of die support 10 that defines one side of the throat 19. The other side of the lower end of the throat 19 is defined by the lower edge of an upwardly opening recess 29 formed in a guard plate 30. The plate 30 is received within a relatively shallow recess 31 formed in die support 10 so that the outer face of plate 30 is coplanar with the outer face of die support 10. It will be apparent from FIG. 2 that the inner face of plate 30 is in abutment with the adjacent side of die 22 as well as the bottom of recess 31. As best seen in FIG. 3, the casing 33 when inserted downwardly through throat 19 is supported on the curved edges 28, 29, on die support 10 and guard plate 30 respectively. Since the upwardly opening grooves 25, 26 of die 22 are spaced downwardly from said recesses, it will be apparent that clearance space is thus permitted for the legs of the clip 32 to encircle the casing 33 without the free ends of the clip engaging the casing 33. This obviates any danger of the legs of the clip puncturing the casing.

The lower edge of plate 30 that is opposite the upper edge in which the recessed edge 23 is formed is fixedly secured as by welding to a horizontally extending rod 34 which is received within a complementarily formed slot 35 formed in die support 10. The rod 34 is sufliciently long to extend past the side edge of die support 10 and is provided at its outer end with an offset portion 36 to which is secured one end of a tension spring 37 which is connected at its other end to base plate 11 by means of pin 38. Rod 34 is retained in groove 35 by means of washers 39 surrounding screws 40 which pass through corresponding openings in die support 113 and may be screw-threadedly received in the base plate 11. As best seen in FIG. 1, the upper margins of washers 39 extend over slot 35 thereby holding the rod 34 within said slot and permitting oscillation of said rod about its longitudinal axis.

In order to properly position plate 30 relative to its recess 31 and also relative to the throat 19 a collar 44 is mounted on rod 34 and is fixedly secured thereto by means of set screw 45. The collar 44 is received within a slot 46 formed in die support 10; the width of slot 46 being only slightly greater than the width of collar 44 so that when the plate 30 is properly positioned the set screw 45 may be tightened on rod 34 thereby cooperating with slot 46 to hold plate 30 in its proper position and still permit swinging movement of the same.

It will be seen from FIG. 3 that when the clip 32 is secured to the casing 33 and the punch 16 retracted, casing 33 may be pulled laterally outwardly relative to the track 15 thereby causing the clip 32 to swing the guard plate 30 outwardly about the axis of rod 34 to a position such as that shown in FIG. 4. In this latter position the casing 33 and the clip 32 are freed from the apparatus and the guard plate 3% is permitted to swing back to its normal position of FIG. 3 under the urgency of spring 37. It will be noted that plate need only be swung outwardly through a relatively small angle to permit clip 32 to swing upwardly thereby freeing it from the plate and permitting the latter to return to its normal position.

The provision of the swinging guard as shown has the important advantage of permitting quick removal of the clipped casing without the necessity of returning the casing and clip upwardly along throat 19.

A modified form of the invention is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. This form of the invention is adapted for use with the type of apparatus shown in application Serial No. 367,536, filed May 14, 1964. In this case a portion of the die support is indicated generally at 50. Die support is formed with a vertically extending track 51 and is provided with a die 52 in a similar manner to that shown in FIGS. 1 through 4. A guard plate 53 is received within a shallow recess 54 and is mounted for swinging movement about its lower edge 55, which lower edge engages the die support 50. Adjacent the lower edge 55 guard plate 53 is provided With a pair of holes 56 for receiving bolts 57 therethrough. Bolts 57 are provided with enlarged heads 58 at one end and are reduced in diameter at their opposite ends for threaded connection within complementarily formed holes 59 in die support 50. Interposed between heads 58 of bolts 57 and the guard plate 53 are compression springs 60 which act to yieldably urge the guard plate 53 against the die support at all times. Between the threaded ends of bolts 57 and the heads 53 the same are formed to a frusto-conical central section indicated at 61 so that upon swinging movement of the guard plate 53 outwardly as indicated in FIG. 6 and upon subsequent removal of the casing 62 guard plate 53 swings back to its full line position and is automatically returned to the correct position by the centering effect of central section 61.

Still another form of the invention is indicated in FIGS. 7 and 8. This design is applicable to the portable type of apparatus shown in Serial No. 380,260 filed June 30, 1964. In this case the died support 65 is provided with a vertically extending track 66 and a die 67 is secured to the die support 65 at the lower end of said track 66. At the lower end of die support 65 the same is provided with a corner recess 68 which receives therein a relatively short flange 69 formed at the lower end of guard plate 70. The guard plate 70 is yieldably urged against die support 65 at all times by a U-shaped spring clip 71 which extends around opposite sides of die support 65 and is secured thereto on the side opposite guard plate 70 by means of screw 72. It will be noted that it is unnecessary to secure guard plate 76 to spring clip 71 since the latter urges the plate into its normal position against the die support 65 by its inherent resiliency. In FIG. 8 casing 73 may be pulled laterally outwardly of the die support 65 in the same manner as in the other forms of the invention.

The object of the present invention may also be attained, in certain instances, by the structure of FIG. 9. In this case the apparatus may be substantially the same as that shown in FIGS. 6 and 8 except that the guard plate 75 is formed of a resilient, flexible material such as nylon, and is fixedly secured adjacent its lower end to die support 76 by means of screws 77. The inherent flexibility and resiliency of the material of guard plate 75 is such as to permit the upper portion of the plate 75 to be defiected outwardly by outward movement of the clip to the dot-dash position indicated at 75', and to spring back to its normal position indicated in full lines when the casing is freed from the guard plate.

In view of the fact that the throat through which the casing is inserted to its position above the die is fairly long, it will be seen that the present invention obviates the necessity of performing the time consuming step of returning the casing outwardly through the throat portion of the die support. Since the casing is merely pulled laterally outwardly of the die support in each instance an effective and fast operation is achieved.

It will be understood that the above described forms of the invention are not to be taken as restrictive as it will be apparent that various modifications in design may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In clipping apparatus that includes a die against which a U-shaped clip is adapted to be deformed by a punch, and a die support for supporting said die and punch,

a guard plate positioned alongside said die and formed along one edge with a recess for receiving a casing or the like therein to permit said clip to be bent around said casing,

means pivotally supporting said guard plate for swinging about an axis spaced from said one edge to permit said one edge to be moved laterally outwardly of said die when said casing and the clip thereon are pulled laterally outwardly of said die.

2. A structure according to claim 1 wherein spring means is employed for urging said plate toward said die at all times.

3. A structure according to claim 1 wherein said plate is fixedly secured to a rod supported on said die support for oscillation about its longitudinal axis.

4. A structure according to claim 1 wherein said plate is formed with a pair of openings adjacent a side edge of said plate and a pair of headed fastening elements are received through said openings and secured in said die support,

compression springs interposed between the heads of said elements and said plate for yieldably urging said plate against said die support at all times, whereby said plate swings about said side edge against the resiliency of said springs when said casing and clip are pulled laterally outwardly of said die.

5. A structure according to claim 4 wherein said fastening elements are each formed with a frustoconical section intermediate its ends for returning said plate to a predetermined position under the urgency of said springs.

6. A structure according to claim 1 wherein said plate is swingably supported about the edge opposite said one edge and a U-shaped spring clip is secured to said die support with one leg of said spring clip urging said plate against said die support.

7. In an apparatus for fastening a two-legged clip around an article such as a casing end,

a die member formed with an upwardly opening groove,

a track disposed over said die member and adapted to receive a clip therein for downward movement of the latter therealong into engagement with said die member,

a fixed guard on one side of said die member provided with an upwardly opening throat for receiving said article therein and for constraining said article to a lateral extent less than the spacing between said legs,

a movable guard on the opposite side of said die member and provided with a similar upwardly opening throat,

spring means urging said movable guard into engagement with said die member whereby said article may be pulled laterally out of said die member with said movable guard swinging laterally outwardly against the urgency of said spring means.

8. An apparatus according to claim 7 wherein said movable guard is pivotally supported at a point spaced downwardly from said throat whereby said guard swings outwardly of said die member about said point.

9. Clipping apparatus for securing a clip to an article such as a casing or the like including a die against which a clip is forcibly urged by a punch slidably supported in a track along which such clip is moved,

a pair of sidewalls respectively on opposite sides of said die,

said sidewalls being formed with similar upwardly opening recesses extending to points spaced from said die to form supports for receiving such article thereon,

one of said walls being formed by a generally vertically extending plate swingably mounted about an axis to permit said article with a clip thereon to be pulled laterally outwardly of said die.

10. In clipping apparatus that includes a die against which a U-shaped clip is adapted to be deformed by a punch, and a die support for supporting said die and punch,

a guard plate positioned alongside said die and formed along one edge with a recess for receiving a casing or the like therein to permit said clip to be bent around said casing,

means supporting said guard plate to permit swinging the portion of said plate adjacent said one edge laterally outwardly of said die when said casing and clip are pulled laterally outwardly of said die.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10 wherein said guard plate is formed of flexible resilient material and is fixedly secured relative to said die support adjacent the edge of said plate opposite said one edge.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 58,536 10/1866 Auld 221-250 2,128,181 8/1938 DuGenier 221--250 X 2,265,277 12/1941 Gerke 29243.57 2,879,512 3/1959 Tipper 29243.57 X

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

MILTON S. MEHR, Examiner. 

1. IN CLIPPING APPARATUS THAT INCLUDES A DIE AGAINST WHICH A U-SHAPED CLIP IS ADAPTED TO BE DEFORMED BY A PUNCH, AND A DIE SUPPORT FOR SUPPORTING SAID DIE AND PUNCH, A GUARD PLATE POSITIONED ALONGSIDE SAID DIE AND FORMED ALONG ONE EDGE WITH RECESS FOR RECEIVING A CASING OR THE LIKE THEREIN TO PERMIT SAID CLIP TO BE BENT AROUND SAID CASING, MEANS PIVOTALLY SUPPORTING SAID GUARD PLATE FOR SWINGING ABOUT AN AXIS SPACED FROM SAID ONE EDGE TO PERMIT SAID ONE EDGE TO BE MOVED LATERALLY OUTWARDLY OF SAID DIE WHEN CASING AND THE CLIP THEREON ARE PULLED LATERALLY OUTWARDLY OF SAID DIE. 